Gas burner



sept. 4, 1934. E J. TE PAS 1,972,836

GAS BURNER` Filed Jan. 30. 1952 T i; 5 L 7 i @o QQ/)Me $3 ,Z 52 Z- W l ,o a 8 .5/ [559 ,5

5o Z9 9 29 '3 l y zo 2/ I .4/ zr Z4 ze /e Z7 .z5 /7 F174 58 ZZ INVENTORl Patented Sept. 4, 1934 GAS BURNER Edmund J. Te Pas, Lakewood, Orhio, assg'nor to The Patrol Valve Company, Cleveland, Ohio Application January 30, 1932, Serial No. 589,897

3 Claims.

It is the object of this invention to 'provide a generally simplified and inexpensive gas burner which is arranged to operate with a blue flame, having novel means for supplying and mixing air with the gaseous fuel used, so that the burner may operate over a wide range of gas pressuresy with various types of gases without necessitating any changes in the burner and at the same time provide complete combustion of the fuel used.

' With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts, hereinafter described, illustrated in some ofV its embodiments in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, Figure 1, is a central sectional view of a water heater illustrating my improved burner. Figure 2, is an enlarged plan view taken on line 2-2, Figure 1, showing the top of the burner, and Figure 3, is a sectional view taken on line 3 3, Figure 1. I

For purposes of illustration, I have shown my improved burner in connection with a storage automatic water heater of the type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 271,795, led April 21, 1928, for Liquid heaters; which, application has resulted in Patent No. 1,843,936, issued February 9, 1932.

The heater illustrated, consists of a water storage tank 1 having a removable tank bottom 2 secured in place upon a supporting ring 3 by means of a plurality of bolts 4. The marginal edge of the tank .bottom and the inner edge of the ring 3 are elliptical so that the tank bottom may be readily installed or removed' from the heater. The ring 3 is secured in place in the tank by means of welding or by any other suitable method. l

Interiorly of the tank I have provided a ow control device which consists of a conical shell 5 which extends from the bottom of the tankto a point adjacent the top of the tank. This .shell is ,open at itstop end and at its lower end it is provided. with Yopenings 6 through which the cooler water enclosed by the shell escapes at a point adjacent the bottom of the tank whereupon it is heated and rises to the top of the tank, thus quickly raising the temperature of the water at the top of the tank from which pointhot water is withdrawn from the tank by the hot water conduits which are lconnected to and form a part of the system. A

The tank 1 is surrounded by a cylindrical-:casing 7 which ,is supported upon an annular ring 8 carried on the outer face of the downwardly extending portion 9 of the heater tank. The space between the casing 7'and the tank Wall 1 denes a passageway for the heated products of combus-r` 10 by way of thc outlet openings 11 which are located just below the tank bottom.

A second casing 12 surroundsv the casing 7 an is spaced a short distance therefrom, so as to provide a passageway for the air necessary to support combustion of the burner 13 which is located in the combustion chamber 10. In its passing between the casings 7 and 12, the incoming air is heated by the heat which is radiated and conducted from the casing 7. This heat would ordidinarily be lost if the airwere admitted directly to the combustion chamber, but in my improved heater, I have provided a means for its recovery and return to the system.

'Ihe lowermost portion of the extended wall 9 of the tank is provided with a series rof openings 14 by Way of which theincoming air is admitted to the combustion chamber 10. When the heater is operating at low fuel consumption, air is admitted tothe combustion chamber 10 by way of an annular iixed opening 15, as under sucll operating conditions, the secondary air supply con- A ing the combustionsupporting air supply of the burner. When the gas flow to the burner is cut down, the supports 18 cool and Warp in a reverse manner allowing the valve plate 17 todescend into engagement withthe base plate 16 thereby cutting downv the flow of cold air through lthe heater which operates to increase the. eiiciency of the heater by reducing lthe heat losses which would result if a free vflow of air were permitted to circulate through the heater at all times.

The tank 1 and the casing 12 are carried on a base 19 which may be provided with suitable supports .(notshown). Access to the combustion chamber is had by Way of an inner door 20 and an outer door 21 which are opposite to each other and provide an opening for igniting the burner. A gas supply conduit 22 communicates with a valve casing which is formed with threadably telescoping upper and lower halves 24 and .The lower half of the valve casing 23 is threadably secured to a nipple 37 which is in turn carried by a bushing 38 which is received in the base 19 of the heater.

A thermostatic bar or strip 25 serves to support a valve member 26 which is centrally secured to such bar by means of a cap screw 27. The

-upper half 24 of the valve casing, provides a valve seat which cooperates with the Valve member 26 inv controlling the flow of gas to the tubular extension 27 of the casing part 24, by means of xwhich gas is conducted to the burner head 39.

The valve member. 26 has an upwardly extending hollow stem 28 which is slidably received in the tubular extension 2'1 of the upper half 24 of the valve casing. Adjacent the upper end of the tube 2'7, I have provided a plurality of lateral air inlet l openings 29 for the purpose of supplying primary air to the gas supplied to the burner. The burner head or spreader plate 39 is of mushroom shape, and has a downwardly extending central portion 30 which is threaded for reception in the threaded upper end of the valve stern 28. The radius of curvature of the underside of the burner head increases as 'its outer edge is approached. The lower portion of the tube 27 is provided with guide wings or vanes 41 for the purpose of maintaining the stem 28 in alignment with the tube 27.

The burner head 39 has a plurality of annular slots 31 for supplying air to the gas flowing over the inner surface of the burner head. The slots 31 are cut so as to form an acute angle with the tangent line of the burner head so that the gas flowing across the faceY of the burner head will not escape by way of these slots and instead, the moving gas stream will tend` to draw air through the slots which mixes with gas, thereby providing lfor its better and more complete combustion. The inner edges of the slots on the under surface of the burner head are preferably formed so as to extend beyond the level of the outer edges of the slots as an added precaution to insure the Siphoning of air through the slots and to prevent the escape of gas therethrough.

The thermostatic strip 25 which supports the burner head and the valve member 26 operates as a spring when in a heated condition to maintain the valve 26 away from the valve seat which is provided by the housing member 24 during the time that the burner. 13 is in operation. When the burner is not operating and when the Valve parts and burner parts are cold, the thermostatic strip 25 tendsto assume a reversely curved shape and urges the Valve member 26 into engagement with its seat thereby cutting oi .the gas supply of the burner 13.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the thermostatic strip 25 operates as a spring to urge the valve member 26 in one direction or the other depending upon the thermal condition of the strip 25. When the burner parts are in an unheated condition, the valve will be in a position shown in Figure 1. VThe valve may be shifted manually to an open position by rotating the member 32 which is threadably carried upon a coupling 40 and which is further provided with a downwardly extending portion which engages the lower part of the burner head. A handle 33 is provided for the member 32 to facilitate this op-/ eration. After the burner has been in operation for a short time, the member 32 may be rotated back to its original position whereupon the burner then operates under control of the thermostatic element 25.

, A tank thermostat comprising an expansible tube 34 and a relatively non-expansible rod 35 is provided for the purpose of automatically controlling .the operation of the water'heater in accordance with the temperature of the liquid contents of the tank 1. 'Ihe rod 35 extends freely through the burner head and is provided with adjusting nuts 36 which engage the burner head to effect the operation of the valve member 26 to which the burner head is secured.

Under normal operating conditions, the resilientthermostatic element 25 maintains the burner head 13 in engagement with the adjusting nuts 36 carried by the thermostat rod 35 so that the gradual movement of the thermostat defined by the tube 34 and the rod 35 is transmitted to the valve member 26. In this manner, the flow of gas to the burner 13 is automatically controlled to maintain the contents'- of the tank 1 at the pre-determined temperature for which the control elements have been adjusted. A

From -the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a burner -which is arranged'to operate uniformly with various gases over a wide pressure range and completely consume the fuel used. These results are accomplished by reason of the provision of the means shown for supplying the necessary air for supporting the combustion of the fuel used and by reason of spreading the flame over a large area and so that if an insufficient amount of air is supplied to the burner by the primary, air supply means shown, the burner flame will be able to combine with the surrounding air and thus effect complete combustion of the gaseous fuel used.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular forms of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A gas burner comprising, a tube and a cylinder coaxial therewith inclosed by said tube and forming therewith an annular gas passageway terminating in an annular burner port, and a curved perforated spreader plate supported by said cylinder, the perforations in said plate being cut to form an acute angle with a tangent line of the spreader plate, said tube having lateral air inlet openings adjacent the burner port.v

2. Agas burner comprising, a tube and a cylinder coaxial therewith inclosed by said tube and forming therewith an annular gas passageway terminating in an annular burner port, and a curved spreader plate supported by said cylinder, said tube and plate having openings for admitting and mixing air with the gas used by the burner, the openings in said plate being so cut as to form an acute angle with a tangent line of the spreader plate.

3. A gas burner comprising, a tube, a cylinder inclosed by/and coaxial with said tube forming therewith an annular gas passageway terminating in an annular burner port, and a downwardly curved annular spreader plate supported by said cylinder above the annular burner port, said tube having ports for the admission of air to the annular passageway and said plate having slots cut to form an acute angle with a tangent line of the spreader plate for the provision of an additional air supply for gaseous fuel used by said burner.

EDMUND J. TE PAS. 

